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For those of you who plan on winter campaigning:
Right now, in most of the country, cattails are almost done blooming and sumac is about to drop its leaves. Why is that important? Both are an excellent and period-correct source of tinder/kindling. If you find a dead sumac limb now, before it gets rotten with winter and while you can see that it's really dead and not merely fall-dormant, break it up and keep some of it handy. I'd heard all my life how good it was for firestarting, but found out for myself one night when we had temps below zero, no power for the electric furnace, and the fire went out. Small pieces of dry sumac burn better than pine fat wood. Incidentally, sumac (NOT "poison sumac", which is a poison ivy relative, but staghorn sumac, which is a small, shrubby tree) has cones of red berries the settlers hearabouts called "Indian lemonade". They do taste faintly citrusy and supposedly keep away the scurvy.
Cattail fluff is very good tinder. I started a barbecue with it and some dry grass once when everybody forgot the charcoal lighter and we had nothing else save a book of dubiously effective matches. A small poke sack of it might be good insurance against running out of matches trying to start a fire in the wind. Another hint learned the hard way: if you're limited on matches, light your candle first.
--Becky Morgan
Right now, in most of the country, cattails are almost done blooming and sumac is about to drop its leaves. Why is that important? Both are an excellent and period-correct source of tinder/kindling. If you find a dead sumac limb now, before it gets rotten with winter and while you can see that it's really dead and not merely fall-dormant, break it up and keep some of it handy. I'd heard all my life how good it was for firestarting, but found out for myself one night when we had temps below zero, no power for the electric furnace, and the fire went out. Small pieces of dry sumac burn better than pine fat wood. Incidentally, sumac (NOT "poison sumac", which is a poison ivy relative, but staghorn sumac, which is a small, shrubby tree) has cones of red berries the settlers hearabouts called "Indian lemonade". They do taste faintly citrusy and supposedly keep away the scurvy.
Cattail fluff is very good tinder. I started a barbecue with it and some dry grass once when everybody forgot the charcoal lighter and we had nothing else save a book of dubiously effective matches. A small poke sack of it might be good insurance against running out of matches trying to start a fire in the wind. Another hint learned the hard way: if you're limited on matches, light your candle first.
--Becky Morgan